Archbishop Wood Defeats Coatesville Area 78-64 in a PIAA Class 6A Playoff Quarterfinal: Kehler on Hoops

Written by: Dell Jackson on March 19, 2023

Archbishop Wood Defeats Coatesville Area 78-64 in a PIAA Class 6A Playoff Quarterfinal

Archbishop Wood broke open a close game in the third quarter to defeat scrappy Coatesviille Area 78 to 64 in a PIAA Class 6A state championship tournament quarterfinal on Saturday afternoon in Norristown. The game was played at a high pitch, with technical fouls called on four occasions during the game and a total of 58 free throws attempted in the contest. In the first half, there were six ties and six lead changes, and neither team led by more than five points in the first 16 minutes of play.

Both teams opened in man-to-man defenses, but the game had little flow due to the large number of fouls called. All season, the more up-tempo the flow of the game, the better for Archbishop Wood. Coatesville benefitted greatly by the frequency of whistles and by many opportunities to go to the free throw line. For example, Coatesville scored just two field goals in the second quarter, but they were 11 of 13 from the line in the second frame. Coatesville’s team quickness and accurate second quarter free throw shooting kept them in the game against the taller and very talented Wood squad. Two Coatesville players stood out in the first half: 6’ 2” senior Jeremiah Marshall and 6’ junior Zuri Harris. Wood led 33 to 31 at halftime, and it seemed that an upset was not out of the question.

Wood took command of the game in the third quarter. Coatesville had difficulty matching up against 6’ 8” Wood senior Carson Howard, who scored eight points in the third quarter. The view from here is that Howard is the most improved player on a PIAA team in southeastern Pennsylvania this season, and he had three three point plays in the game, two of them in the third quarter. 6’ 4” Wood junior Jalil Bethea had an outstanding second half, too, with key assists an a tremendous scoring burst. Bethea scored nine points in the third quarter and 11 more in the fourth period.

Wood led 45 to 40 midway through the third quarter when they launched a 12 to 1 run to conclude the frame and to put the game away. The decisive run began with a three point play by Howard and continued with a fast break layup by 6’ 2” sophomore Deuce Maxey, a hoop inside by Howard, a jumper by Bethea, and Howard’s third three point play of the game. That gave Wood a 57 to 41 advantage at the end of the third quarter.

A lesser team would have folded, but there was no quit in Coatesville. In particular, 6’ Coatesville junior Marquis Peoples showed his mettle. Peoples scored 14 points in the fourth quarter, making four 3-pointers in the final frame. However, Coatesville couldn’t stop Wood’s Bethea and Howard, who scored 17 of their team’s 21 fourth quarter points.

Wood had a decided rebounding advantage in the game, 39 to 27. Wood committed nine turnovers, while Coatesville had just seven miscues. Wood was 20 of 27 from the free throw line, and Coatesville was 21 of 31 from the stripe. Wood made six 3-pointers in the game, and Coatesville scored seven times from beyond the arc.

Archbishop Wood scoring: Jalil Bethea 31, Carson Howard 21, Gus Salem 8, Deuce Maxey 8, Mike Green 5, Milan Dean 3, and Josh Reed 2.

Coatesville Area scoring: Zuri Harris 19, Jeremiah Marshall 18, Marquis Peoples 15, Amon Fowlkes 5, Dior Kennedy 3, Christian Proctor 2, and Takiyah Lynch 2.

Coatesville Area     16   15   10   23-64
Archbishop Wood 15   18   24   21-78

With this win, Wood is now 19-8, and they advance to the semifinals of the PIAA Class 6A state championship tournament. They will play defending champion Roman Catholic on Tuesday at Bensalem at 7:30 p.m.

Coatesville was 20-10 this season. The view from here is that Coatesville improved more during this course of the season than any other team in southeastern Pennsylvania. The future looks bright for this team, as there were only two seniors on the squad. Coatesville is likely to make a deep run in the PIAA state championship tournament next season.

On Twitter: @david_kehler

Follow LLhoops on Twitter @LLhoops